In 2012, nearly 40 years after the E-Type's demise, Jaguar finally got around to announcing the long-awaited and much-rumoured F-Type, which would turn out to be a more worthy spiritual successor to its illustrious forbearer than either the preceding XK8 or, before that, the XJS.

A front-engined, rear-wheel-drive two-seater, the F-Type is built on an aluminium chassis, cleverly configured to minimise the transmission of noise and vibration to the passenger compartment, while its suspension is the supercar-standard arrangement of double wishbones all round, with adaptive dampers and adjustable settings.

Multiple driving modes cater for different road conditions and driving styles.

Unlike the E-Type, the F-Type was available with a wide variety of different power plants, ranging from a turbocharged 2-litre four via a 3-litre turbo V6 to a supercharged 5.0-litre V8.

A ZF 8-speed paddle-shift semi-automatic transmission was standard on all models at first, with a 6-speed manual availa...